Daily Cal: Cal Celebrates Fifth Straight Big Game Win

BY Steven Dunst

Daily Cal Staff Writer

Desmond Bishop lay in the end zone pumping his fists, Nate Longshore gave high-fives cloaked in a green wreath and Andrew Cameron walked off the field jubilantly with The Axe held high above him.  It may not have been pretty, but the Cal football team did just enough Saturday at Memorial Stadium to hold off Stanford for a 26-17 win and its fifth-straight Big Game victory.  The fans stormed the field in the last home game for this year’s seniors, the first recruiting class under Cal coach Jeff Tedford.  “This year’s (senior) group will always be special to me,” Tedford said. “Going through the tunnel, there was a lot of emotion, a lot of memories about what this group has done.”  Although the Bears were heavily favored and struggled to put up points for most of the game, many players rejoiced and stayed on the field long after the end of the game, taking pictures with fans and trying to get a hold of the axe.  “I never got to touch it,” linebacker Mickey Pimentel said.  “It was just pandemonium,” cornerback Daymeion Hughes said. “It never gets old.”  DeSean Jackson caught seven passes for 217 yards and Tom Schneider kicked four field goals for the Bears (9-3, 7-2 in the Pac-10), who claimed a share of the Pac-10 title with their win and No. 2 USC’s loss to UCLA.

With the winds swirling, Cal clung to a 13-10 lead at the half before wideout Lavelle Hawkins caught a 32-yard pass over the middle from Nate Longshore to stretch the lead to 10.  “Hawkins did a nice job of making the move and getting free,” Bears coach Jeff Tedford said. “He got inside the safety.”  Two Schneider field goals, the last one from 30 yards with 58 seconds left, ensured the victory.  The Cardinal (1-11, 1-8) came into Saturday as one of NCAA’s worst teams statistically, but two touchdown passes by T.C. Ostrander, the latter a 51-yard strike to Evan Moore, kept it in the game.  “They made plays when they needed to and they were ready for us,” linebacker Mickey Pimentel said.  But they also made some costly mistakes.  With under three minutes remaining in the first half, Ostrander fumbled the snap and recovered, but fumbled again after absorbing a big hit from Follett. Cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson scooped it up and ran in for a 15-yard touchdown.  Even though Cal was unable to pull out an emphatic victory, Tedford was unconcerned.  “If we win I’m proud of them all,” Tedford said.